Gisèle Pelicot’s lesson in justice

Justice is often depicted as the blindfolded goddess Themis, a symbol of impartiality. For almost three months now, in the Avignon criminal court, southern France, it is a completely different woman, with a straight face, fierce determination and measured speech, who dominates the trial of the 50-something men, including her ex-husband, who treated her like a sexual object. “Shame must change sides,” goes one of the slogans of feminist struggles against rape. It’s an understatement to say that, during the Mazan rape trial, whose closing arguments were completed on Wednesday. November 27, it became a reality thanks to the courage of Gisèle Pelicot.

In 1978, during the trial of the perpetrators of the rape of two campers attacked in the middle of the night in the rocky inlets of the Calanques National Park near Marseille, it was they, the victims, who were treated as defendants. Along with their lawyer, Gisèle Halimi, they were booed by men as they left the hearings. Forty-six years later, Gisèle Pelicot entered the Avignon courthouse every day to applause and emerged with a guard of honor.

This contrast, while reflecting a change in society’s viewpoint, should not be misleading. Almost none of the defendants at the Avignon trial acknowledged the rapes, despite video evidence to the contrary, hiding behind an alleged “absence of intent” or “mistake.”

But while 94% of rape cases are dismissed nationally, and taking legal action remains a terrible ordeal for plaintiffs, who are often forced to remain in the shadows, the way in which Gisèle Pelicot placed herself at the center of this trial and confronted her attackers can only go down in history.

It’s true that the extraordinary scenario of the rapes filmed by the sleeping victim’s husband helped the deliberations escape the terrible “word against word” situation. But the victim’s decision to confront the public broadcasting of these images by refusing a closed-door trial changed everything. By doing so, she exposed the whole of society, to the point of nausea, to the parade of these ordinary-looking men, of all ages and origins. All saw their behavior in front of a sedated woman, their irresponsibility and sometimes their bestiality and cowardice.

Exemplary turnaround

More than the judicial institution itself, it was Gisèle Pelicot who, by maintaining her refusal to a closed-door trial – which the presiding judge had initially declared – by refraining from speaking outside the courtroom and by attending the hearings with dignity, including the defense pleadings, in a way asserted her rules on both the judges and the defendants and their lawyers. This power grab was recognized in its own way by the representative of the prosecution, originally in favor of closed hearings, who praised Gisèle Pelicot’s “admirable burst of resilience.”

This spectacular turnaround, which saw a rape victim placed at the center of her attackers’ trial in hearings covered by media outlets around the world, has already sparked wide-ranging and useful debates on rape culture and the question of consent. “By your verdict, you will signify (…) that there is no such thing as an inevitability for women to suffer and no such thing as an inevitability for men to act. And you will guide us in the education of our sons,” concluded one of the prosecutors on Wednesday, addressing the court.

If these essential messages end up influencing relations between men and women and inspiring public policy, Gisèle Pelicot will have played a part.

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.